49ers Jim Harbaugh and Anquan Boldin set the record straight

Newly signed wide receiver and team leader Anquan Boldin, backed his head coach.

When someone talks openly, then they must be taken at their word. 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh did that with Sports Illustrated writer Michael Rosenberg.

As Eric Branch noted in an earlier post, Harbaugh halted all rumors – saying that he doesn’t want an increase in power, that he gets paid enough and he took the opportunity with Rosenberg to lobby for a larger contract for defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.

Not only that, wide receiver Anquan Boldin, a leader on the team who agreed to a two-year deal reportedly worth $12 million on Monday, said players are fine with Harbaugh.

“I don’t think anybody in our locker room has an issue with coach Harbaugh,” Boldin said. “The way our locker room is built, we have an open door policy, if anybody has a concern, or wants to voice their opinion, they are more than welcome to. There have been times when we have voiced our concerns as players and coach Harbaugh has taken into consideration how we felt as players. I don’t think there is any rift between players and coaches, particularly coach Harbaugh. Everybody is pretty much on the same page and if not, we have it to where he listens to us.”

Boldin said that he shares the same mentality with Harbaugh, a desire to win.

“He’s a guy I had a real good relationship with, me and him were able to talk about anything,” Boldin said. “I like his demeanor. He likes to win, I’m the exact same way. I think we mesh.”

On Monday, I wrote that players may be losing enthusiasm for Harbaugh. I also wrote, “The bottom line is no one can say whether veteran players’ disfavor with Harbaugh is corrosive or might be just animus towards a powerful leader.”

Right now with what Harbaugh and Boldin said, it appears the latter part of the statement seems to be accurate. Any attitude in a locker room is dynamic, one player might like Harbaugh, another player might not.

But what transpired Monday is an overwhelming positive. Harbaugh repudiated any characterization of being a self-centered, money-grubbing, power-hungry head coach. He also said he respects general manager Trent Baalke and talks to him daily.

The only part of this week-long saga that seems off, is why didn’t Harbaugh say this before? Why did he let this linger into a daily story?

We may never know the answer to that. And in the end, maybe the answer to that question just won’t matter.